'Chewing Gum Man' reaches 100th birthday

After reaching the age of 100 and seeing America change from horse and buggy to the high-tech information age, Hayden Goodnight's only goal is to live during three centuries.

By the stroke of midnight Dec. 31, Goodnight may accomplish that goal.

Goodnight, once referred to by children as the "Chewing Gum Man" because he always shared a pack of Wrigley Spearmint Gum with them, celebrates his 100th birthday today with family and friends.

Goodnight was born Oct. 18, 1899, in Buck Creek. He recalled walking 1 miles to school as a young boy.

"When I started school it was a one-room schoolhouse, after a while it went to a two-room school house," Goodnight said.

He also recalled the leather-skin helmets he wore as a young high school football player in Wellington.

"I played in the first game that the town of Wellington produced," he said.

After his days on the field, Goodnight married his wife, Larkie, in 1924, and moved to Amarillo in 1941 from Memphis.

During the Depression, Goodnight said he was one of the lucky few to be able to feed his wife and children.

"We never lacked groceries," he said. "We were very fortunate during the Depression. I worked in a lumber yard."

Soon after the Depression, Goodnight said he registered for World War II but was never called to serve because of his age. Instead, he said, he helped grow vegetables free of charge for other families whose fathers and sons were called off to the war.

During the war, Goodnight also said he began working as an officer for the Liquor Control Board in Amarillo.

He worked as a school teacher for a year and an insurance salesman until his retirement in 1989 at age 80, when he moved back to Lubbock to be closer to his family.

While working, Goodnight also served as a deacon at Temple Baptist Church in Amarillo.

Goodnight said that the secret to living a long and healthy life is to "trust in the Lord."